Royalston Selectboard considers overrides to address school funding and admin support

ROYALSTON –The Selectboard discussed adding two overrides to the upcoming Annual Town Meeting in June.

No formal decision was made at the board’s meeting on Tuesday, March 24. During a discussion on the town’s FY27 budget, board member Linda Alger, who is not seeking reelection on April 6, brought up the topic of overrides, one for the schools and another for an executive assistant at 19 hours a week.

Alger said Royalston’s assessment for its portion of the Athol Royalston Regional School District budget has increased by $61,000 for the next fiscal year, “and $40,000 of that is the required state minimum. When we’re spending that kind of money, it means we have to cut something else or not fund something else.”

She also noted that, while there is no state minimum for the town’s membership in the Montachusett Regional Technical Vocation School District, “Monty Tech’s budget for us went up $19,000 this year.”

Regarding the need for an executive assistant, board Chair Bill Chapman said Royalston resident Jeff Wright has volunteered to serve in that position for the past three months to assist the Selectboard on a number of matters.

“I can tell you that position is very much needed,” said Chapman. “We could not have done our jobs without Jeff doing what he did. It was almost divine intervention that he volunteered and was willing to put his time forward. We had a couple of big legal issues this year, and there’s no possible way that we could have taken the time to spend on the phone or doing emails or whatever he had to do to ensure Royalston could avoid having to pay out, potentially, a lot of money; a lot more than we’d be paying him for working 19 hours.”

Chapman added that the job would pay for itself through grants the town could secure for any number of initiatives.

Last year, by a margin of 151-123, voters in a special election defeated a proposed override that would have funded a full-time administrative assistant, or town coordinator, at $85,000. Alger said creation of a 19-hour-per-week position would still greatly benefit the town while not crossing the threshold that would require the town to pay health insurance and other benefits.

Chapman also noted that he and fellow board member Mark Thompson both have full-time jobs and work days.

Alger suggested offering two separate overrides, rather than combining the schools and administrative position in a single one. She said the assistant’s position could be funded at between $40,000 and $45,000, while the question of funds to help the town meet ever-increasing school costs be set at $50,000. Both Chapman and Thompson agreed with Alger’s assessment. She also noted that, if the executive assistant position is approved, the job wouldn’t automatically be handed to Wright.

“We would need to post the position,” she said.

Steven Egan, who is running unopposed for Alger’s seat, told the Athol Daily News he agrees with the overrides.

“Honestly, I understand the need for both,” he said. “The school assessment is a state mandate, and because it fluctuates every year, the amount being asked for….I believe it will be used to stabilize the budget. I fully understand why we would be asking for that.”

Regarding the administrative assistant’s position, Egan said, “The job is to do the administrative functions that the Selectboard isn’t really designed to perform. Part of that job is to help get grants for the town, and grants, unlike loans, are not repaid. One or two grants and we’ve paid for that position in a year. Some grants reach into six figures. If the administrator can get something like that for the town while you’re paying $35,000 to $45,000 to pay for that position, that seems like a pretty good return on investment.”

If Town Meeting voters approve either or both overrides, a special election would need to be scheduled for later this summer.